Cleaning device, method of manufacturing the same and substrate cleaning apparatus

ABSTRACT

A cleaning device, according to one embodiment, for cleaning a substrate by being rotated, includes: a cleaning member configured to clean a substrate; and a sleeve configured to be provided along a circumference of the cleaning member, a lower part of the sleeve being divided into a plurality of chucking claws each of which holds a portion of a side face of the cleaning member, wherein at inside of each of the plurality of chucking claws, a plurality of protrusions are provided substantially parallel to a rotation direction of the cleaning member, an end of each of the plurality of protrusions is configured to contact the side face of the cleaning member.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 14/944,551, filed on Nov. 18, 2015, now U.S. Pat. No.9,643,216, and claims the benefit of Japanese Priority PatentApplication JP 2014-235191, filed on Nov. 20, 2014, both of whichpreceding patent applications are incorporated by reference.

FIELD

The present technology relates to a cleaning device for cleaning asubstrate, a method of manufacturing the cleaning device, and asubstrate cleaning apparatus.

BACKGROUND

JP 2000-173966 A discloses a substrate cleaning apparatus for cleaning asubstrate such as a semiconductor wafer. The substrate cleaningapparatus cleans a surface of a semiconductor wafer with a rotatingcleaning member making contact with a semiconductor wafer.

The typical size of semiconductor wafers used to be about 300 mm indiameter. In recent years, however, semiconductor wafers have becomelarge in size and the semiconductor wafer with a diameter of 450 mm isbecoming a mainstream of semiconductor wafers. Disadvantageously, forthe substrate cleaning apparatus disclosed in JP 2000-173966 A, anapparatus that is simply increased in size cannot always ensuresufficient detergency. So there need some study to apply the substratecleaning apparatus to clean large substrates.

Therefore, a cleaning device suitable for cleaning larger substrates, amethod of manufacturing such a cleaning device, and a substrate cleaningapparatus using such a cleaning device are desired.

SUMMARY

A cleaning device, according to one embodiment, for cleaning a substrateby being rotated, includes: a cleaning member configured to clean asubstrate; and a sleeve configured to be provided along a circumferenceof the cleaning member, a lower part of the sleeve being divided into aplurality of chucking claws each of which holds a portion of a side faceof the cleaning member, wherein at inside of each of the plurality ofchucking claws, a plurality of protrusions are provided substantiallyparallel to a rotation direction of the cleaning member, an end of eachof the plurality of protrusions is configured to contact the side faceof the cleaning member.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a schematic configuration of asubstrate cleaning apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the cleaning device 3.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the cleaning device 3.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the cleaning member 31.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are vertical sectional views of the cleaning member 31including its center.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are enlarged views illustrating the bottom face of thecolumn portion 33 a of the holding core 33.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are enlarged views of the top face of the cleaningmember 31 and the bottom face of the holding core 33.

FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary modification of the protrusion 33 d ofthe holding core 33.

FIGS. 9A, 9B, 9C, 9D, 9E and 9F illustrate exemplary modifications ofthe recess 31 c of the cleaning member 31.

FIGS. 10A and 10B are enlarged views of the inner face of the chuckingclaw 32 a.

FIG. 11 is a top view of the chucking claw 32 a catching the uppercolumn portion 31 b of the cleaning member 31.

FIG. 12 is an enlarged view of another exemplary configuration of theinner face of the chucking claw 32 a.

FIG. 13 is a process chart illustrating a method of manufacturing thecleaning device 3.

DESCRIPTION

Specific description will be presented below with reference to figures.

A cleaning device, according to one embodiment, for cleaning a substrateby being rotated, the cleaning device includes: a cleaning memberconfigured to clean a substrate; and a sleeve configured to be providedalong a circumference of the cleaning member, a lower part of the sleevebeing divided into a plurality of chucking claws each of which holds aportion of a side face of the cleaning member, wherein at inside of eachof the plurality of chucking claws, a plurality of protrusions areprovided substantially parallel to a rotation direction of the cleaningmember, an end of each of the plurality of protrusions is configured tocontact the side face of the cleaning member.

By providing such protrusions, even when the cleaning member is large,the idle running of the cleaning device can be suppressed, therebycleaning a large substrate.

Preferably, the plurality of protrusions are fixedly attached to thecleaning member, and the side face of the cleaning member is swellinginto a gap between the plurality of protrusions. To realize this, thecleaning device further may include a ring member configured to fit atan outer circumference of the sleeve, wherein the plurality ofprotrusions are fixedly attached to the cleaning member by the ringmember fitting at the outer circumference of the sleeve.

Preferably, the plurality of protrusions are configured to transferdriving force in the rotation direction to the cleaning member when thesleeve is rotationally-driven.

More preferably, at an inside face of each of the plurality of chuckingclaws, an additional protrusion is provided extending in a directionperpendicular to the rotation direction of the cleaning member at aposition different from a position where the plurality of protrusionsare provided, an end of the additional protrusion contacting the sideface of the cleaning member. By this configuration, the effect tosuppress the idle running improves.

The cleaning device may further comprise a positioning mechanismconfigured to position the cleaning member at a center of the sleeve.Furthermore, a recess may be provided on a substantial center of a topface of the cleaning member, and the cleaning device further comprises aholding core fixed to the sleeve, a convex portion being provided on asubstantial center of a face of the holding core facing the top face ofthe cleaning member, the convex portion engaging with the recess. Bysuch configuration, the cleaning member can be positioned at the centerof the sleeve, so that eccentrically-rotation of the cleaning member canbe suppressed, thereby extending the lifetime of the cleaning member.

Preferably, the top face of the cleaning member is arranged so thatthere exists a gap between the top face of the cleaning member and theface of the holding core facing the top face, the cleaning member haselasticity, and a height of the convex portion of the holding core islarger than a sum of a width of the gap and a depth of the recess in astatus where the convex portion does not engage with the recess. By thisconfiguration, since a downward pressure is applied on the center of thecleaning member, cleaning ability increases.

Preferably, a groove is provided on a face of the convex portioncontacting a bottom face of the recess. Since the pressure isconcentrated on the edge of the groove when the cleaning member rotates,the cleaning ability increases.

One of specific configurations, the cleaning member includes a lowercolumn portion and a upper column portion, a radius of the upper columnportion is smaller than a radius of the lower column portion, a bottomface of the lower column portion is a cleaning face, a top face of thelower column portion contacts a bottom face of the sleeve, a side faceof the upper column portion is hold by the chucking claws, and therecess is provided on a top face of the upper column portion.

Preferably, at least a portion of a cross section of the recess has astraight line. By such configuration, the recess is easily formed andthe line portion can transfer the driving ability in the rotationdirection to the cleaning member.

A substrate cleaning apparatus according to another embodiment includes:a substrate holding and rotating mechanism configured to hold and rotatea substrate to be processed; the cleaning device of claim 1 configuredto clean the substrate to be processed; and a cleaning device mountingmechanism on which the cleaning device is mounted and configured torotate the cleaning device on the substrate to be processed.

A method for manufacturing a cleaning device according to anotherembodiment, the method includes: inserting a holding core into anopening on an upper part of a sleeve, a convex portion being provided ona substantial center of a bottom face of the holding core; inserting acleaning member into an opening on a lower part of the sleeve dividedinto a plurality of chucking claws, a recess being provided on asubstantial center of a top face of the cleaning member, to make theconvex portion engage with the recess; and fitting a ring member at anouter circumference of the sleeve to bite a plurality of protrusionprovided substantially parallel to a rotation direction of the cleaningmember at inside of each of the plurality of chucking claws into thecleaning member.

Hereinafter, embodiments will be specifically explained.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a schematic configuration of asubstrate cleaning apparatus. The substrate cleaning apparatus includesa substrate holding and rotating mechanism 1, a cleaning device mountingmechanism 2, a cleaning device 3, a nozzle 4, and a container 5.

The substrate holding and rotating mechanism 1 holds and rotates asubstrate to be processed Wf, such as a semiconductor wafer. Morespecifically, the substrate holding and rotating mechanism 1 includes aplurality of (the number of which is typically four, as shown in FIG. 1)arms 12 having a chuck 11 for holding the substrate Wf, a base 13 towhich the arms 12 are integrally attached, and a rotating shaft 14 forrotating the base 13.

The cleaning device 3 is mounted on the cleaning device mountingmechanism 2. The cleaning device 3 is rotated on the substrate Wf andswung from the center to an edge (or from an edge to an edge) of thesubstrate Wf. More specifically, the cleaning device mounting mechanism2 includes a rotating shaft 21 that rotates the cleaning device 3attached to the distal end of the cleaning device mounting mechanism 2,a swing shaft 22 that swings and lifts or lowers the cleaning device 3,and a swing arm 23. The swing shaft 22 is fixed to an end of the swingarm 23, and the cleaning device 3 is attached to the other end of theswing arm 23 via the rotating shaft 21.

The cleaning device 3 making contact by its bottom surface with thesurface of the substrate Wf swings and rotates to clean the substrate Wfto be processed. The present embodiment provides a substrate cleaningapparatus suitable for cleaning a large substrate Wf to be processed,for example, a semiconductor wafer having a diameter of 450 mm byimproving the configuration of the cleaning device 3.

The nozzle 4 supplies cleaning liquid, such as pure water, onto thesubstrate Wf. The container 5 contains cleaning liquid for cleaning thecleaning device 3 that has cleaned the substrate Wf.

The substrate cleaning apparatus configured as described above isoperated as described below. The cleaning liquid is ejected from thenozzle 4 onto the substrate to be processed Wf rotated by the rotatingshaft 14 of the substrate holding and rotating mechanism 1.Simultaneously, the rotating shaft 21 of the cleaning device mountingmechanism 2 rotates the cleaning device 3 and the swing shaft 22 swingsthe rotating cleaning device 3 with the bottom face of the cleaningdevice 3 making contact with the surface of the substrate Wf. Thesubstrate Wf is cleaned in this manner. When cleaning is finished, theswing shaft 22 swings the swing arm 23 to dip the cleaning device 3 inthe cleaning liquid in the container 5. Meanwhile, the cleaned substrateWf is spin-dried by being rotated at a high speed by the rotating shaft14 of the substrate holding and rotating mechanism 1. After drying, thesubstrate Wf is conveyed by, for example, a robot arm (not shown) to thenext processing.

The cleaning device 3 will now be described.

FIGS. 2 and 3 are respectively a sectional view and an explodedperspective view of the cleaning device 3. The cleaning device 3includes a cleaning member 31, a sleeve 32, a holding core 33, a ringmember 34, and a screw 35.

The cleaning member 31 is formed of a soft porous material havingelasticity and liquid absorptivity, such as a sponge (the substance ofwhich is, for example, porous composition polyvinyl formal (PVF)) andpolyvinyl alcohol (PVA). The cleaning member 31 is composed of a lowercolumn portion 31 a and an upper column portion 31 b. The diameter ofthe upper column portion 31 b is smaller than the diameter of the lowercolumn portion 31 a. The upper column portion 31 b is concentricallypositioned with the lower column portion 31 a.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the outer periphery of the top face of thelower column portion 31 a makes contact with the bottom face of thesleeve 32 and receives downward pressure from the sleeve 32. The bottomface of the lower column portion 31 a (i.e., the bottom face of thecleaning member 31) is the cleaning face. The substrate Wf to beprocessed is cleaned by the rotating cleaning face touching the surfaceof the substrate Wf. For a substrate Wf with a diameter of 450 mm, thediameter of the lower column portion 31 a is, for example, about 42 mm.

The side face of the upper column portion 31 b is held in the sleeve 32.The top face of the upper column portion 31 b opposes the bottom face ofthe holding core 33 with a gap 36 therebetween. A recess 31 c isprovided approximately in the center of the top face of the upper columnportion 31 b.

The sleeve 32 has a top opening, a bottom opening, and a hollow. The topportion and the bottom portion of the sleeve 32 are thick, while themiddle portion of the sleeve 32 is thin. As illustrated in FIG. 3, fourcut grooves are provided in the outer circumference of the sleeve 32 toextend upward from the bottom end of the sleeve 32. By these cutgrooves, the bottom portion of the sleeve 32 is divided into fourchucking claws 32 a.

The upper column portion 31 b of the cleaning member 31 is inserted fromthe bottom opening of the sleeve 32 to position the chucking claws 32 aon the circumference of the cleaning member 31. To make insertion of thecleaning member 31 easy, the chucking claws 32 a may slightly beexpanded outward when the ring member 34, which will be described later,is not fitted.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, a plurality of protrusions 32 b that makescontact by the distal end with the side face of the cleaning member 31is provided on the inner face of the chucking claw 32 a. The cleaningmember 31 can surely be held by these protrusions 32 b. The chuckingclaw 32 a has on its upper portion a screw hole 32 c into which a screw35 is screwed. The chucking claw 32 a has on its lower portion aprotrusion 32 d that protrudes outward. A protrusion 32 e that issmaller in protruding height than the protrusion 32 d is provided in theupper side of the protrusion 32 d.

The holding core 33 includes a column portion 33 a and a brim portion 33b provided on the upper side of the column portion 33 a. The brimportion 33 b has a larger outer diameter than the column portion 33 a.The brim portion 33 b is provided with a through hole 33 b 1 throughwhich the screw 35 is inserted. The through hole 33 b 1 is provided soas to be above the screw hole 32 c of the sleeve 32. The screw 35 isscrewed into the screw hole 32 c of the sleeve 32 through the throughhole 33 b 1 to secure the holding core 33 to the sleeve 32.

A recess 33 c is formed in the column portion 33 a. The distal end ofthe rotating shaft 21 (see FIG. 1) which holds and rotates the cleaningdevice 3 engages with the recess 33 c. The holding core 33 and thesleeve 32 secured to the holding core 33 are rotated together by therotation of the rotating shaft 21. A protrusion 33 d that engages withthe recess 31 c of the cleaning member 31 is provided approximately inthe center of the bottom face of the column portion 33 a. In a regionwhere the protrusion 33 d is not provided, the gap 36 exists between thebottom face of the column portion 33 a and the portion of the top faceof the cleaning member 31.

The ring member 34 is a cylindrical body having the inner diameterapproximately identical to the outer diameter of the sleeve 32 and fitson the external of the sleeve 32. A groove 34 a provided in the innercircumferential face of the ring member 34 engages with the protrusion32 e of the chucking claw 32 a, and the protrusion 32 d of the sleeve 32supports the bottom face of the ring member 34. The ring member 34constricts inward the chucking claw 32 a of the sleeve 32.

The recess 31 c on the top face of the cleaning member 31 and theprotrusion 33 d on the bottom face of the holding core 33, which are oneof the features of the cleaning device 3, will now be described indetail.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the cleaning member 31. FIGS. 5A and 5Bare sectional views of the cleaning member 31 including its center. Asillustrated in FIG. 4, the recess 31 c is provided approximately in thecenter of the top face of the cleaning member 31. The recess 31 c has awidth (diameter) of, for example, approximately 15% of the diameter ofthe upper column portion 31 b. Although FIG. 4 illustrates the recess 31c having a circular horizontal cross section, the horizontal crosssection may be a polygonal shape, such as a triangular shape. Thevertical cross section of the recess 31 c may be a rectangular shape asillustrated in FIG. 5A. Alternatively, the recess 31 c may have a sharpbottom that becomes deeper from the outer edge to the center, asillustrated in FIG. 5B. The depth of the recess 31 c in the cleaningmember 31, which has elasticity, is “a” when no external force isapplied to the cleaning member 31. The depth “a” is, for example,approximately 60% of the height of the upper column portion 31 b.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are enlarged views illustrating the bottom face of thecolumn portion 33 a of the holding core 33. As illustrated in thefigure, a protrusion 33 d that engages with the recess 31 c of thecleaning member 31 is provided approximately in the center of the bottomface of the column portion 33 a. The protrusion 33 d has a shapecorresponding to the shape of the recess 31 c of the cleaning member 31.If the recess 31 c has a rectangular shape as illustrated in FIG. 5A,the protrusion 33 d also has the rectangular shape (see FIG. 6A). If therecess 31 c has a shape with a sharp bottom as illustrated in FIG. 5B,the protrusion 33 d also has a shape with a sharp distal end (see FIG.6B). The height of the protrusion 33 d, namely the distance from thebottom face of the column portion 33 a to the distal end of theprotrusion 33 d, is “b”.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are enlarged views of the top face of the cleaningmember 31 and the bottom face of the holding core 33. FIG. 7Acorresponds to FIG. 5A and FIG. 6A. FIG. 7B corresponds to FIG. 5B andFIG. 6B. As illustrated in the drawings, the gap 36 exists between thetop face of the upper column portion 31 b of the cleaning member 31 andthe bottom face of the column portion 33 a of the holding core 33. Byproviding the gap 36, a possible production error in the height of thecleaning member 31 can be canceled. The height of the gap 36 is “c”. Theprotrusion 33 d of the holding core 33 engages with the recess 31 c ofthe cleaning member 31.

If the recess 31 c of the cleaning member 31 and the protrusion 33 d ofthe holding core 33 are not provided, the correct positioning of thecleaning member 31 to the holding core 33 is difficult, in particular,for a larger cleaning member 31 used for cleaning a larger substrate Wf.For example, when the center of the cleaning member 31 and the center ofthe holding core 33 are misaligned, the cleaning member 31 cannot becaught firmly by the chucking claw 32 a of the sleeve 32. When thecleaning member 31 is rotated about an eccentric axis, the cleaningmember 31 might wear within a short time.

In the embodiment, the holding core 33 is provided with the protrusion33 d and the cleaning member 31 is provided with the recess 31 c. Withthe protrusion 33 d and the recess 31 c functioning as a mechanism forpositioning the cleaning member 31 to the center of the sleeve 32, thecleaning member 31 can accurately be positioned in the center of theholding core 33. When the recess 31 c has a shape illustrated in FIG.5B, the cleaning member 31 can be positioned further correctly.

To achieve such positioning, the depth “a” of the recess 31 c, theheight “b” of the protrusion 33 d, and the height “c” of the gap 36 aredetermined such that at least the distal end of the protrusion 33 dreaches the recess 31 c. More preferably, at least one of the depth “a”of the recess 31 c, the height “b” of the protrusion 33 d, and theheight “c” of the gap 36 is determined so as to satisfy Equation 1expressed below.b>a+c  Equation 1

When the relationship expressed by Equation 1 is satisfied, the distalend of the protrusion 33 d of the holding core 33 surely reaches thebottom of the recess 31 c of the cleaning member 31, and thus theprotrusion 33 d applies a downward pressure to the cleaning member 31.In this manner, the central portion of the cleaning member 31 is pressedby the substrate to be processed Wf, thereby enhancing detergency. Inparticular, by increasing the difference between the left hand side “b”of Equation 1 and the right hand side “a+c” of Equation 1, the centralportion of the cleaning member 31 applies a greater load to thesubstrate to be processed Wf.

When Equation 1 is not satisfied, the substrate Wf presses mostly theouter peripheral portion of the cleaning member 31 which is the portionpressed by the bottom face of the sleeve 32, as illustrated in FIG. 2.The area of the outer peripheral portion is almost the same for acleaning member which is formed by simply enlarging a conventionalsmall-sized cleaning member. Therefore, a large substrate Wf might notbe cleaned sufficiently.

In the embodiment, the protrusion 33 d of the holding core 33 pressesthe central portion of the cleaning member 31, so that the substrate Wfis cleaned also by the central portion in addition to the outerperipheral portion of the cleaning member 31. The embodiment is thuspreferable for cleaning a large substrate Wf.

FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary modification of the protrusion 33 d ofthe holding core 33. FIG. 8 is a sectional view and is a bottom view ofthe protrusion 33 d. For example, one or more annular grooves 33 e maybe provided in the bottom face of the protrusion 33 d. Whencontamination by loading at or near the center of the cleaning member 31where rotation is substantially zero is a concern, a recess may beprovided in the bottom face of the protrusion 33 d to avoid the centerof the cleaning member 31 pressing the substrate Wf.

When the groove 33 e is provided, the edge of the groove 33 e slidesacross the surface of the substrate Wf when the cleaning member 31swings. This motion produces concentration of force at the edge, whichincreases detergency. If the groove 33 e is provided, the surface of thecleaning member 31 may be flat. Even if the rotation of the cleaningmember 31 runs idle, the substrate to be processed Wf can be cleaned bythe groove 33 e if at least the cleaning member 31 swings.

FIGS. 9A to 9F illustrate exemplary modifications of the recess 31 c ofthe cleaning member 31. Every drawing is a top view of the upper columnportion 31 b of the cleaning member 31.

The recess 31 c is preferably formed to have a large diameter,specifically 50% or more of the diameter of the upper column portion 31b as illustrated in FIG. 9A, if such recess can be manufactured. In sucha configuration, the cleaning member 31 can press the substrate Wf by alarger area, thereby improving detergency.

Not only in the center of the upper column portion 31 b, a plurality ofrecesses 31 c′ may be provided evenly around the recess 31 c asillustrated in FIG. 9B. In such a configuration, even when the recess 31c in the center is small, the cleaning member 31 can press the substrateto be processed Wf by a larger area.

As illustrated in FIGS. 9C to 9F, a portion of or preferably the entirecross section of the recess 31 c has a shape formed of straight lines,because the recess 31 c having such a shape can easily be created in thecleaning member 31 by processing. In addition, the shape formed mostlyof straight lines is advantageous in that the straight portion of therecess 31 c transmits the rotational force of the holding core 33 to thecleaning member 31. Moreover, further larger portion of the cleaningmember 31 is pressed onto the substrate to be processed Wf, distributingthe pressure on the cleaning member 31 and thus extending the lifetimeof the cleaning member 31.

The specific shape of the recess 31 c is not particularly limited. Theshape of the recess 31 c may be a rectangular shape that includes thecenter of the upper column portion 31 b (see FIG. 9C), a cross-shape(see FIG. 9D), a cross-shape reaching the edge of the upper columnportion 31 b (see FIG. 9E), or a shape composed of a plurality of(three, for example) lines extending from the center toward the rim (seeFIG. 9F). For any shape, the central portion of the upper column portion31 b is preferably depressed to provide a function of positioning.

The protrusion 33 d of the holding core 33 is formed to have a shapecorresponding to the shape of the recess 31 c of the cleaning member 31.

The protrusion 32 b on the inner face of the chucking claw 32 a, whichis another feature of the cleaning device 3, will now be described indetail.

FIGS. 10A and 10B are enlarged views of the inner face of the chuckingclaw 32 a. As illustrated in FIG. 10A, the bottom end of the chuckingclaw 32 a is provided with a plurality of (three, in FIG. 10A)protrusions 32 b extending inward. The protrusions 32 b are arrangedalong the rotational direction of the cleaning member 31, namelyapproximately parallel to the horizontal plane or a cleaning face of thecleaning member 31. A gap 32 f is provided between the protrusions 32 b.The width of the protrusion 32 b may be larger than or almost equal tothe gap 32 f. The outermost of the gap 32 f in the radial direction ofthe sleeve 32 may be on the inner face of the chucking claw 32 a.

The protrusions 32 b is formed by, for example, removing portionscorresponding to the gap 32 f from a single seamless protrusion 32 b′without any gap 32 f as illustrated in FIG. 10B. The protrusion 32 b maybe provided on the chucking claw 32 a in an integrated manner or as aseparate member.

A protrusion 32 g extending in the vertical direction, that is, thedirection approximately perpendicular to the cleaning face of thecleaning member 31 may be provided above the gap 32 f (or the protrusion32 b) on the inner face of the chucking claw 32 a.

FIG. 11 is a top view of the chucking claw 32 a catching the uppercolumn portion 31 b of the cleaning member 31. By fitting the ringmember 34 onto the outer circumference of the sleeve 32, the chuckingclaw 32 a is pushed inward. With this push, the elastic cleaning member31 deforms, allowing the protrusion 32 b biting into the side face ofthe upper column portion 31 b and the side face of the upper columnportion 31 b swelling into the gap 32 f.

To deform the cleaning member 31 in this manner, it is preferable tocorrectly position the cleaning member 31 to the center of thearrangement of chucking claws 32 a by using the recess 31 c of thecleaning member 31 and the protrusion 33 d of the holding core 33, sothat the cleaning member 31 can be caught evenly by four chucking claws32 a. When the cleaning member 31 is misaligned from the center, theprotrusion 32 b of the chucking claw 32 a far from the center cannotfirmly catch the cleaning member 31.

When the rotating shaft 21 of the cleaning device mounting mechanism 2rotates to rotatably-drive the holding core 33 and the sleeve 32 withkeeping the state illustrated in FIG. 11, the protrusion 32 b transmitsthe rotational force to the cleaning member 31. With this transmission,an idle running, that is a stop of rotation of the cleaning member 31occurring while the holding core 33 and the sleeve 32 are rotating, canbe suppressed. The substrate to be processed Wf can thereby be cleanedefficiently.

When the cleaning member 31 is caught by a single seamless protrusionextending along the rotational direction (see FIG. 10B) instead of by aplurality of protrusions 32 b, the rotational force is not sufficientlytransmitted to the cleaning member 31, which may cause the cease ofrotation of the cleaning member 31. In particular, when a large cleaningmember 31 is used for a large substrate to be processed Wf, the cease ofrotation is more likely to happen because the rotational speed at theouter circumference of the cleaning member 31 is high.

In the embodiment, a plurality of protrusions 32 b arranged along thedirection parallel with the cleaning face (i.e., the rotationaldirection) is provided on the inner face of the chucking claw 32 a. Theprotrusions 32 b functions as a rotation-cease preventing mechanism toprevent a cease of rotation.

FIG. 12 is an enlarged view of another exemplary configuration of theinner face of the chucking claw 32 a. As illustrated in the figure, aprotrusion 32 h protruding inward is provided on the bottom end of thechucking claw 32 a. In addition, a plurality of (typically the number ofthe protrusions is two, as shown in FIG. 12) protrusions 32 i protrudinginward is provided above the protrusion 32 h. The protrusions 32 i arearranged along the rotational direction of the cleaning member 31,namely approximately parallel to the horizontal plane or the cleaningface of the cleaning member 31.

As illustrated in FIGS. 10A and 12, the chucking claw 32 a at least hasan inward protrusion.

A method of manufacturing, i.e. providing the cleaning device 3 byassembling the cleaning member 31, the sleeve 32, the holding core 33,and the ring member 34 will now be described.

FIG. 13 is a process chart illustrating a method of manufacturing thecleaning device 3. First, the column portion 33 a of the holding core 33is inserted in the sleeve 32 from the top opening until the bottom faceof the brim portion 33 b touches the top face of the sleeve 32 (stepS1). The protrusion 33 d of the holding core 33 is thus positionedinside the sleeve 32.

The screw 35 is screwed into the screw hole 32 c of the sleeve 32through the through hole 33 b 1 of the holding core 33 to securetogether the holding core 33 and the sleeve 32 (step S2).

The upper column portion 31 b of the cleaning member 31 is inserted fromthe bottom opening of the sleeve 32 until the top face of the lowercolumn portion 31 a touches the bottom face of the sleeve 32 and theprotrusion 33 d of the holding core 33 engages with the recess 31 cprovided on the top face of the upper column portion 31 b (step S3). Thecleaning member 31 is thus precisely positioned in the center of thesleeve 32. At this state, the protrusion 32 b on the inner face of thechucking claw 32 a need not touch the cleaning member 31.

Then the ring member 34 is fitted onto the outer circumference of thesleeve 32 (step S4). In this step, the sleeve 32 is constricted and theprotrusion 32 b bites into the side face of the cleaning member 31 asillustrated in FIG. 11. The cleaning member 31 is thus fixedly or firmlyattached to the sleeve 32.

In a manner similar to the method of manufacturing the cleaning device 3illustrated in FIG. 13, the cleaning member 31, which is an expendablepart, can be replaced.

In the embodiment as described above, a plurality of protrusions 32 barranged along the rotational direction of the cleaning face is providedon the inner face of the chucking claw 32 a. Thus, the cleaning member31 is fixedly or firmly attached to the sleeve 32 and a cease ofrotation can be suppressed even for a large cleaning member 31.Furthermore, the recess 31 c is provided in the top face of the cleaningmember 31 and the protrusion 33 d that engages with the recess 31 c isprovided on the holding core 33 so as to position the cleaning member 31in the center of the sleeve 32, thereby improving the effect ofpreventing a cease of rotation and extending the lifetime of thecleaning member 31. Moreover, when a long protrusion 33 d is used, adownward force can be appropriately applied to the central portion ofthe cleaning member 31, resulting in improvement of detergency ofcleaning processor, improvement of ability of cleaning device forcleaning the substrate Wf. With the substrate cleaning apparatus usingthe cleaning device 3 described above, a larger substrate Wf can becleaned with high detergency.

The embodiment is described above to explain that a person skilled inthe art in the technical field including the invention can set forth thepresent invention. Various modifications of the embodiment can naturallybe made by a person skilled in the art, and the technical idea of thepresent invention can be applied to other embodiments. Thus, the presentinvention is not limited to the embodiment described above. The scope ofthe present invention should be construed by the broadest rangeaccording to the technical idea defined by the claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A cleaning member holding apparatusconfigured to hold a cleaning member, wherein the cleaning membercomprises: a bigger diameter portion comprising a cleaning surface; anda smaller diameter portion comprising a first surface facing oppositethe cleaning surface on which at least one recess is provided; thecleaning member holding apparatus comprising: a chuck member configuredto hold a side face of the smaller diameter portion; and at least oneprotrusion configured to be inserted into the recess, wherein the biggerdiameter portion and the smaller diameter portion are formed of a softporous material having elasticity and liquid absorptivity.
 2. Thecleaning member holding apparatus according to claim 1 furthercomprising a second surface from which the protrusion is projected, thesecond surface facing the first surface, there being a gap between thefirst surface and the second surface.
 3. The cleaning member holdingapparatus according to claim 2, wherein a relationship b>a+c issatisfied, where the “a” is a depth of the recess, the “b” is a lengthof the protrusion, and the “c” is a height of the gap.
 4. The cleaningmember holding apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising aplurality of the protrusion.
 5. The cleaning member holding apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein a groove is provided on the protrusion. 6.The cleaning member holding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein anannular groove is provided on the protrusion.
 7. The cleaning memberholding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the protrusion comprisesa sharp distal end.
 8. The cleaning member holding apparatus accordingto claim 1, wherein a concave portion is provided on a center of abottom surface of the protrusion.
 9. The cleaning member holdingapparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least a part of a crosssection of the protrusion is formed of a straight line.
 10. The cleaningmember holding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the chuck memberis a chuck claw.
 11. A cleaning member comprising: a bigger diameterportion comprising a cleaning surface; and a smaller diameter portioncomprising a first surface facing opposite the cleaning surface on whichat least one recess is provided; wherein the at least one recess beingconfigured to receive a protrusion of a cleaning member holdingapparatus, and wherein the bigger diameter portion and the smallerdiameter portion are formed of a soft porous material having elasticityand liquid absorptivity, and wherein the protrusion is projected from asecond surface of the cleaning member holding apparatus, the secondsurface facing the first surface, there being a gap between the firstsurface and the second surface and a relationship b>a+c is satisfied,where the “a” is a depth of the recess, the “b” is a length of theprotrusion, and the “c” is a height of the gap.
 12. The cleaning memberaccording to claim 11, wherein a plurality of the recess are provided onthe first surface.
 13. The cleaning member according to claim 11,wherein a bottom of the recess is tapered.
 14. The cleaning memberaccording to claim 11, wherein at least a part of a cross section of therecess is formed of a straight line.